Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena Blamed Religious Extremist for Terror Attacks
The death toll from six consecutive and two subsequent explosions on Easter Sunday in churches and hotels in Sri Lanka has risen above 200.
A police spokesperson said the 207 people died and 450 injured, which makes the attack among the bloodiest since the nation’s 26-year civil war ended a decade ago.
Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardena said seven suspects have been arrested in connection with the attacks, which he characterized as a terrorist carried out by religious extremists.
“The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka,” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted early Sunday. “We stand ready to help!”
138 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, with more that 600 badly injured, in a terrorist attack on churches and hotels. The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz offered her condolences over Twitter early Sunday.
“Deeply saddened by the senseless attacks in Sri Lanka today. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand with Sri Lanka’s people at this terrible moment,” Ambassador Teplitz tweeted.
Deeply saddened by the senseless attacks in Sri Lanka today. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand with Sri Lanka’s people at this terrible moment.
And let’s not forget the Fed’s role in the Great Depression.
Today, though, let’s focus on a narrower topic.
As Norbert Michel explains for the Heritage Foundation, the central bank is trying to expand its power in the financial system.
…one of the “potential actions” the Fed Board is considering is to develop its very own real-time settlement system. This approach makes many private sector actors anxious because no private company wants to compete with the feds. …Since its inception, the Fed has been heavily involved in the U.S. payments system. And one can easily argue that the system has lagged behind precisely because the Fed has been too involved. …The Fed also effectively took over the check-clearing business even though the economic case for such a move was highly suspect. Private firms were doing fine. In fact, there is a long history of the Fed usurping the private market.
Here are some details on the Fed’s most-recent power grab.
…the government is once again angling to take over a function that private firms are already providing. The Clearinghouse, a private association owned by 25 large banks, launched its own system—Real-Time Payments (RTP)—in November 2017. …the private sector is better than the government at providing more goods and services to more people. In the private sector, competitive forces and the need to satisfy customers create constant pressure to innovate and improve. Government entities are wholly insulated from these pressures. The government should not provide a good or service unless there is some sort of clear market failure, where the private sector has failed to provide it. This type of failure clearly does not exist in the payments industry.
Norbert is right. Competition is the way to get better outcomes for consumers.
As such, it’s rather absurd to think a government-operated monopoly will produce good results (look, for instance, at its cronyist behavior during the financial crisis).
Now let’s zoom out and consider the big picture.
Richard Rahn has a column in the Washington Times that raises questions about the Fed’s role in a modern economy.
Is there a need for the Fed? …The Fed has an extensive history of policy mistakes, (too long to even summarize here). The problem has been the assumption that the Fed had better information and tools than it had. At times, it was expected to “lean against the wind” as if it had information not available to the market — or smarter people. In Hayekian terms, it suffered from “the pretense of knowledge.” At this point, it may be beyond fixing. Several very knowledgeable economists who have held high-level positions at the Fed, including regional bank presidents, have begun discussions about setting up a new commission to rethink the whole idea of a Fed and its activities. The structure that now exists is a jerry-built concoction that has been assembled in bits and pieces for more than a century — and increasingly appears to be past its expiration date.
I’ve written about the need to clip the Fed’s wings, but Richard’s column suggests even bolder action is needed.
Larry White and John Stossel also have questioned the role and power of the Federal Reserve.
In any event, one thing that should be clear is that the Fed hasn’t used its existing powers either wisely or effectively.
New residential construction, hew homes, housing starts, building permits, depicted on blueprints. (Photo: AdobeStock)
New residential construction in March 2019 was more moderate than expected. Housing starts came in a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000 (-0.3%) and building permits came in at 1,269,000 (-1.7%), missing the forecasts.
The consensus forecast was looking for 1,230,000, ranging from a low of 1,168,000 to a high of 1,300,000.
Prior
Consensus
Range
Actual
Housing Starts – SAAR
1.162 M
1.230 M
1.168 M to 1.300 M
1.139 M
Building Permits – SAAR
1.296 M
1.300 M
1.287 M to 1.320 M
1.269 M
Released On 4/19/2019 at 8:30 AM EST for March, 2019
Housing completions in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,313,000, or 1.9% (±19.5%)* below the revised February estimate of 1,338,000. However, that is 6.8% (±15.8%)* higher than the March 2018 rate of 1,229,000.
Single‐family housing completions in March were at a rate of 938,000; this is 11.9% (±14.2%)* above the revised February rate of 838,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 364,000
Read Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report on Russian Interference
Attorney General William Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein held a press conference detailing the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
On March 22, the Special Counsel concluded his investigation and submitted his confidential report to the Attorney General Barr per DOJ regulations. Attorney General Barr said “the bottom line” is the Special Counsel found no evidence of collusion an no corrupt intent to support obstruction of justice.
“As the report states: ‘[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,’” Attorney General Barr said.
President Donald Trump, left, delivers his first State of the Union address, right, former FBI director Robert Mueller.
On obstruction, Attorney General Barr said that Mr. Mueller detailed 10 potential cases and legal theories. However, the Special Counsel made no determination and noted the White House fully cooperated with the investigation.
The President’s remarks were fueled by “sincere held beliefs” there was no crime committed, and the predicate for the investigation was supported by illegal acts.
“After carefully reviewing the facts and legal theories outlined in the report, and in consultation with the Office of Legal Counsel and other Department lawyers, the Deputy Attorney General and I concluded that the evidence developed by the Special Counsel is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense,” Attorney General Barr added.
Worth noting, the attorney general said he and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein did not agree with “some of the Special Counsel’s legal theories” yet “accepted the Special Counsel’s legal framework for purposes of our analysis.”
“This evidence of non-corrupt motive weighs heavily against any accusation that the President had a corrupt intent to obstruct the investigation,” Attorney General Barr added.
In assessing the President’s actions discussed in the report, it is important to bear in mind the context,” he said. “President Trump faced an unprecedented situation.”
Obstruction of justice Definition 18 U.S.C. § 1503 defines “obstruction of justice” as an act that “corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice.”
Overview Someone obstructs justice when that person has a specific intent to obstruct or interfere with a judicial proceeding. For a person to be convicted of obstructing justice, that person must not only have the specific intent to obstruct the proceeding, but that person must know (1) that a proceeding was actually pending at the time; and (2) there must be a connection between the endeavor to obstruct justice and the proceeding, and the person must have knowledge of this connection.
§ 1503 applies only to federal judicial proceedings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, however, a defendant can be convicted of obstruction of justice by obstructing a pending proceeding before Congress or a federal administrative agency. A pending proceeding could include an informal investigation by an executive agency.
Group of friends sitting outdoors with shopping bags; several people holding smartphones and tablets. (Photo: AdobeStock/ OneInchPunch/PPD)
DU.S. retail sales came in at $514.1 billion, an increase of 1.6% (±0.5%) from the previous month and 3.6% (±0.7%) above March 2018. Total retail sales for the period covering January 2019 through March 2019 were up 2.9% (±0.7%) from the same period a year ago.
The reading reported by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday easily beats the forecast.
Prior
Revised
Consensus
Range
Actual
Retail Sales – M/M
-0.2%
0.8%
0.3% – 1.4%
1.6%
Less Autos – M/M
-0.4%
-0.2%
0.7%
0.3% – 1.1%
1.2%
Less Autos/Gas
-0.6%
-0.7%
0.4%
0.4% – 0.8%
0.9%
Released on March 18, 2019 at 8:30 AM EST for March, 2019.
Retail trade sales increased 1.7% (±0.5%) from February 2019, and are 3.5% (±0.5%) higher than last year. Non-store retailers have gained 11.6% (±1.4%) from March 2018, while sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores were down 9.7% (±2.5%) from last year.
4-Week Average for Jobless Claims Lowest Since November 1, 1969
U.S. jobless claims graph on a tablet screen. (Photo: AdobeStock)
Initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 192,000 for the week ending April 13, the lowest level since September 6, 1969. For that week, jobless claims were 182,000.
The 4-week moving average declined by 6,000 to 201,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average, the lowest level since November 1, 1969 when it was 200,500.
Last week, weekly jobless claims fell below 200,000 to the lowest level since December 6, 1969. The consensus forecast for this week was looking for 206,000, ranging from a low of 204,000 to a high of 215,000.
Prior
Revised
Consensus
Range
Actual
Initial Jobless Claims
196K
197K
206K
204K to 215K
192K
4-Week Moving Avg.
207K
207.25K
201.25K
Released on March 18, 2019 at 8:30 AM EST for March 13, 2019.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending April 6. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the week ending April 6 declined by 63,000 to 1,653,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,712,500, a decline of 22,750.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending March 30.
The highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending March 30 were in Alaska (2.8), New Jersey (2.4), California (2.2), Connecticut (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), Montana (2.1), Illinois (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), Pennsylvania (2.0), and Minnesota (1.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 6 were in Michigan (+1,945), Tennessee (+1,833), Arizona (+1,289), Florida (+1,098), and Arkansas (+1,031), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,301), New York (-406), Illinois (-354), Missouri (-327), and Wisconsin (-297).
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Bernie Sanders stands at the podium on stage during a walk through before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 25, 2016. (Photo: SS)
Which presumably means that he should surrender more of his income, since he is part of the gilded class. The New York Times has a report on the Vermont Senator’s lavish income.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, disclosed 10 years of tax returns on Monday… He and his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, reported income that topped $1 million in 2016 and 2017… Mr. Sanders’s higher income in recent years has created some political awkwardness for the senator, who in his 2016 presidential campaign frequently railed against “millionaires and billionaires” and their influence over the political process. …His income now puts him within the top 1 percent of taxpayers, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service.
Yet when asked why he didn’t pay a big chunk of his income to the IRS, Sanders showed typical statist hypocrisy by giving the same reason used by every rich person (including Trump) and every big corporation.
Early in the program, Sanders was asked about the 10 years worth of tax returns he had released just before the program, which showed that he had an adjusted gross income of $561,293 in 2018, on which he paid a 26 percent effective tax rate. Baier asked Sanders why he’s holding onto his wealth rather than refusing deductions or writing a check to the Treasury Department — since Sanders had said he voted against Trump’s tax bill that he himself benefitted from. “Pfft, come on. I paid the taxes that I owe,” Sanders replied.
If he actually followed the law and paid his taxes, that puts him ahead of some of his fellow leftists, such as Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle.
But that’s still not good enough, at least if Sanders is serious in wanting to resurrect FDR’s infamous second Bill of Rights.
FDR stated the Bill of Rights wasn't enough and we needed to guarantee economic rights as well: the right to a decent job, the right to health care, housing, education, retirement security, etc. I agree with FDR. Economic rights are human rights.
For what it’s worth, the notion that people have a right to free stuff is the core principle behind the so-called Green New Deal.
Yet if Sanders wants to minimize his own tax bill, why should he complain when the rest of us try to protect ourselves from being victimized by his redistribution agenda?
Though I will admit that Sanders is probably a sincere hypocrite.
After all, would anyone other than a committed leftist support Venezuela’s leftist dictatorship?
And let’s not overlook the fact that Crazy Bernie has some crazy advisers with the same crazy viewpoint, as revealed by the Wall Street Journal. Like their boss, they have a perverse admiration for the despotic hellhole of Venezuela.
Socialism is cool again, and Bernie Sanders wants to reassure voters that there’s nothing to worry about. “I think what we have to do, and I will be doing it, is to do a better job maybe in explaining what we mean by socialism—democratic socialism,” Mr. Sanders said last month. …But we’ve been reading the work of Bernie’s senior political advisers… Take speechwriter David Sirota, who joined the Sanders campaign in March… Mr. Sirota wrote an op-ed for Salon in 2013 titled “Hugo Chávez’s Economic Miracle.” …Sirota wrote… “in a United States that has become more unequal than many Latin American nations, are there any constructive lessons to be learned from Chávez’s grand experiment with more aggressive redistribution?” …Mr. Sanders’ political director, Analilia Mejia, spent part of her childhood in Venezuela and told the Atlantic in 2016 that “it was better to live on poverty-level wages in a shantytown in Venezuela than on a garment-worker’s salary in Elizabeth, New Jersey.” …senior policy adviser Heather Gautney visited Caracas in 2006…wrote about how Chávez had “implemented a serious [sic] of programs to redistribute the wealth of the country and bolster social welfare.” …She also wrote that “today’s neoliberal capitalist system has become utterly incompatible with the requisites of democratic freedom.” …Mr. Sanders is…a leading candidate…and these are the people who would staff his White House. Voters need to understand that they don’t merely admire Venezuela. By their own words, they want America to emulate it.
Yet Bernie’s people think we should mimic Venezuela’s horrid socialism.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry.
But since I prefer laughter, let’s close with same Bernie-themed humor, starting with this gem from the satirists at Babylon Bee.
Needing to cool off from the high-stress life of a U.S. senator who has to work three days a week, Bernie Sanders was spotted Tuesday ranting at the wide selection of deodorants at a D.C.-area Target. “There are people who don’t have enough food to eat in this world, and yet there are 29 different brands of deodorant here!” Sanders bellowed, citing the two completely unrelated facts for some reason. … Several shoppers attempted to go around Sanders but he blocked the aisle, ranting to them about the 1% and the failures of capitalism before they ran away, frightened. …At publishing time, Sanders was seen in the snacks aisle ranting about how no country needs three different varieties of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
By the way, this isn’t random humor.
Sanders is such a crazy crank that he actually has condemned capitalism for providing too many underarm choices.
This Branco cartoon also hits the nail on the head.
First Time the Trade Gap Narrowed Below $50B Since June 2018
Import, Export, Logistics concept – Map global partner connection of Container Cargo freight ship for Logistic Import Export background (Photo: AdobeStock/Elements of this image furnished by NASA)
DThe U.S. trade deficit fell below $50 billion in February at $49.4 billion, down $1.8 billion from $51.1 billion and easily beating the forecast. It’s the first dip below the $50-billion threshold since June 2018.
The U.S. trade deficit was expected to deepen in February after narrowing sharply in January. The continued narrowing will be a big boon for gross domestic product (GDP) in the first-quarter (Q1) 2019.
The consensus forecast was looking for a gap of $53.6 billion, ranging from a low of $54.5 billion to a high of $50.8 billion.
Prior
Consensus
Range
Actual
Trade Balance
$-51.1B
$-53.6B
$-54.5B to $-50.8B
$-49.4B
Exports rose $2.3 billion to $209.7 billion, while imports were rose just $0.6 billion to $259.1 billion. As People’s Pundit Daily previously reported last week, export gains for the month were outpacing import gains.
Year‐to‐date, the goods and services deficit is down 7.6%, or by $8.3 billion. Exports rose 2.7$, or $11.1 billion, while imports rose by only 0.5%, or $2.8 billion.
For the period ending February, the 3-month average for the goods and services deficit fell $0.4 billion to $53.5 billion. The average for exports rose $0.1 billion to $207.5 billion and imports fell $0.3 billion to $261.0 billion.
The politically-sensitive U.S. trade deficit with China declined $3.1 billion to $30.1 billion in February, as exports rose $1.6 billion to $9.2 billion and imports fell $1.5 billion to $39.3 billion.
The U.S. trade deficit with Japan rose $1.3 billion to $6.7 billion in February, as exports fell $1.1 billion to $5.7 billion and imports rose $0.2 billion to $12.4 billion.
The surplus with Hong Kong rose $1.0 billion to $2.8 billion in February, fueled by a $0.9 billion gain in exports to $3.2 billion and a $0.1 billion decline in imports to $0.3 billion.
The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) joint report showed surpluses in the billions for South and Central America ($3.7), Hong Kong ($2.8), United Kingdom ($0.9), Brazil ($0.6), Singapore ($0.4), Canada ($0.4), and OPEC ($0.3).
Deficits in billions of dollars were posted with China ($30.1), European Union ($12.4), Mexico ($7.7), Japan ($6.7), Germany ($5.5), Italy ($2.8), South Korea ($2.4), India ($2.2), France ($2.2), Taiwan ($1.7), and Saudi Arabia ($0.3).
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